faint

adj

1. Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness

   “I felt faint after my fifth gin and tonic.”

   “He almost fell faint due to the hot climate.”

2. Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; cowardly; dejected.

   “Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.”

3. Barely perceptible; not bright, or loud, or sharp.

   “There was a faint red light in the distance.”

4. Performed, done, or acted, weakly; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy.

   “faint efforts”

   “faint resistance”

   “They damned the latest book with faint praise.”

5. Slight; minimal.

   “a faint chance”

   “do you have the faintest understanding of what they mean?”

6. (archaic)Sickly, so as to make a person feel faint.

   “Happening to pass a fruiterer’s on their way; the door of which was open, though the shop was by this time shut; one of them remarked how faint the peaches smelled.”

noun

1. The act of fainting, syncope.

   “She suffered another faint.”

2. (rare)The state of one who has fainted; a swoon.

verb

1. (intransitive)To lose consciousness through a lack of oxygen or nutrients to the brain, usually as a result of suddenly reduced blood flow (may be caused by emotional trauma, loss of blood or various medical conditions).

   “A fainting fit.”

   “If I send them away fasting […] they will faint by the way.”

   “But upon hearing the Honour which he intended her , she fainted away , and fell down as Dead at his Feet”

2. (intransitive)To lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.

   “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”

3. (intransitive)To decay; to disappear; to vanish.

   “November 12, 1711, Alexander Pope, letter to Henry Cromwell Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye.”